


Let The Words Fall Out

by Elri



Category: Wonder Woman (2017), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Nightmares, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 10:51:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17343959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elri/pseuds/Elri
Summary: Sami and Charlie have a late night at the office and end up having an important conversation





	Let The Words Fall Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theladiesyouhate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theladiesyouhate/gifts).



It was a well-established fact that paperwork was the worst, which is why they all tried their best to get out of doing it. Etta, as team leader, filled out what was absolutely necessary for her to do before trying to push the rest onto someone else, stating that she wasn’t a secretary anymore and everyone should do their fair share. There was no system in place to trade turns but they tried to keep it balanced; it usually ended up being them making increasingly miniscule excuses not to do it until someone came up with such a lame excuse that they had to concede to their fate. On this night, it was Sami who had drawn the short straw. Charlie had stayed back in the office with him and offered to take some on himself but that had been a few hours ago and his portion lay half-finished on his desk while he lay napping on the couch in their break room. He’d probably sat down “just for a moment to rest his eyes” and ended up falling asleep but Sami didn’t mind. It was nice just knowing he was there, a friendly presence nearby.

Outside, the snow swirled wildly. Sami could almost hear the wind howling through the London streets and shivered thinking about having to head out into that. He decided it was presently time for another cup of tea, hot and strong, and that he would wake Charlie to offer him a cup as well. Entering the break room, he could make out Charlie’s shape sprawled face-down on the couch from the light through the window. It didn’t look like a comfortable position, but Charlie had slept in more awkward ways. He had a habit of falling asleep on the nearest person, usually Sami, on the way back from missions and would sometimes fall over when they hit a bump without stirring at all. There was a gentle snoring coming from where Charlie’s face was partially smashed into the cushions.

Sami put the kettle on the hotplate, still half-full after the previous brewing, and quietly prepared two mugs. Behind him, the snores broke off with a few snuffles, and there was the sound of mumbles and shifting as Charlie partially rolled onto his back. As the mumbles rose in volume, Sami paused and listened, waiting to hear if anything comprehensible would come. There was a noise that sounded almost like his name, and Sami strained to hear better, barely breathing so as not to make any noise. Sure enough, his name came again, followed by Chief’s, and Etta’s, and even Steve’s. He frowned and turned as the mumbles took on a distressed tone, all too familiar.

“Charlie?” Sami said, voice just loud enough to be heard across the small room. “Charlie.”

“Get down,” came the muffled response, “get down!”

“Charlie!”

Before the nightmare could grow to its full horror, the piercing whistle of the kettle startled Charlie out of his sleep into a partially upright position. Sami jumped as well, too engrossed in listening to Charlie to realize the kettle had heated up. His hand knocked into one of the mugs and sent it falling to the floor, barely rescued from crashing by Sami’s reflexes.

“Sami? That you?” Charlie’s voice was a whisper, barely audible over the still whistling kettle.

“It’s me, Charlie.” Sami picked up the kettle, poured the tea, and crossed to turn on the light, hoping to project a calm presence. When he brought the tea over to the couch, Charlie had sat up fully and was rubbing his hands over his face. “Here, this will help you wake up.”

“Thanks.” They sat quietly for a few moments, letting their tea steep and cool.

“Charlie-”

“Sami-”

They both stopped and waited for the other to continue. Charlie hesitated so Sami took the initiative, “Charlie, you don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to, but I’m here if you do,” he paused, “and I wish you would.”

Charlie set his mug down on the coffee table and rubbed his hands over his face again, “I don’t know what there is to say. Not like this is anything new.”

“But you’ve never talked about it before, and it hasn’t happened in some time.” There was a slight movement as Charlie glanced away. “Hasn’t it?”

At first it seemed like Charlie wouldn’t answer; his hands twitched anxiously, the way they did when he went for long periods without drinking before he got sober. Seeing that nervous tic made Sami’s heart clench. Acting on impulse, he reached over and put his hand on Charlie’s, gently rubbing his thumb over Charlie’s knuckles.

“Charlie,” Sami said softly, “How long has it been since you had a night’s rest?”

Charlie took a shaky breath, “About a week, and that was because I was too tired to have nightmares.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I was hoping, if I ignored them, they would go away.”

There were many things Sami wanted to say in response to that; how that could only have worked for so long, how Charlie didn’t have to deal with it alone, how much Sami would have done if he’d only known. But none of that came out. Instead, Sami squeezed Charlie’s hand.

“Talk to me. Please. Let me help.”

The snow continued to swirl past the window, casting moving shadows on the floor. Finally, Charlie took another breath and squeezed Sami’s hand back before releasing it to rub at his face again. “It’s not always the same, but the one I have the most is I’m standing on a hill, looking down at the airfield, and I see all of you running towards the plane. Only I know, somehow I know, that you’re not going to make it in time, the canisters are going to go off before the plane even takes off, and I can’t do anything about it. I’m just standing there and I’m pathetic and useless!” His hands clenched into fists and dug into his legs.

“No, Charlie, you’re not. And you’re not alone, either.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve had nightmares about the airfield too. I keep seeing the plane exploding, or I dream about missions going wrong. I wake up in a cold sweat and can’t go back to sleep. You’re not alone, Charlie, I’m sorry you ever felt like you were.”

Charlie met Sami’s gaze for a brief moment before looking down and leaning against him, exhaustion taking over. Sami brought his arm up to wrap around Charlie’s shoulders, leaning his head against Charlie’s.

“Sami?”

“Hm?”

“Why’re you always so patient with me?”

“Because…” Sami hesitated, “tha gaol agam ort.”

Charlie sat up and looked at Sami with wide eyes, the faintest hint of a smile on his face, “When did you learn Gaelic?”

“Started a few years ago. I wanted to be able to communicate with you in your own language.”

“And you know what you just said?”

“I do.”

Charlie lifted his hand to Sami’s face, fingers gently touching his cheek. “Tha gaol agam-sa ort fhéin.”

Neither was sure who moved first, but less than a heartbeat later they had come together in a tender kiss. The paperwork did get done that night, but it took a little longer than originally planned...

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays Kaye!


End file.
